DANBURY – City zoners approved plans by a Nissan-Infiniti dealership to take over an empty retail building next to Danbury Municipal Airport, where a high-end auto niche is taking off.
The new dealership will occupy a 78,000-square-foot building on 8 acres that once housed Sports Authority and Bed, Bath and Beyond on Sugar Hollow Road, near Danbury Fair mall.
“As you drive south on Sugar Hollow you will see three more auto dealerships in succession — Danbury Porsche, Danbury Audi and Danbury Volkswagen, so I guess it’s time we had a non-German dealership on this street,” said Thomas Beecher, an attorney representing the dealer, at a Zoning Commission public hearing this week. “There are also other automobile establishments just around the corner on Miry Brook Road … with respect to the neighborhood, this is an excellent fit.”
Beecher is referring to a corridor southeast of Danbury airport that is already home to high-end auto garages, luxury auto storage companies, and a specialty manufacturer of $450,000 sports cars. Last month Danbury’s wetlands commission moved ahead a proposal for a new Mercedes-Benz dealership at Sugar Hollow and Miry Brook roads. That application still needs approvals from the Planning and Zoning commissions.
The Nissan-Infiniti dealership had received approval in 2021 from the city’s Planning Department to convert the retail space into a showroom and 15-bay service garage.
Zoning Commission member Richard Jowdy asked what would keep the dealer from parking cars for sale on grass islands and other non-designated places.
“I’m concerned … a lot of time car dealerships will go in and they will go out of the (designated) space very quickly,” Jowdy said during the public hearing.
“There are 225 parking spots on this site — 185 of those are dedicated to cars for sale — and also there is a section of the building where cars will be displayed inside,” the attorney Beecher responded. “There is plenty of parking also for the service facility, for customers and … cars that are for sale. There are teeth in the approval so that (this) could be easily enforced.”
Zoning Commission member Michael Coelho questioned whether car deliveries would add to congestion.
“This is a pretty big dealership — the unloading of cars off trailers and so forth — is that going to take place on site?” Coelho said. “I want to make sure there wasn’t anything of that nature happening off site on Wibling Road or on Sugar Hollow Road.”
“It’s going to happen on site,” Beecher said. “The site plan approval specifically prohibits any offloading or unloading of any trucks on the road.”
The Zoning Commission approved the dealership’s new car license unanimously.
“It fits in with the physical characteristics of the neighborhood.” Beecher said. “It fits in with the other neighbors of the neighborhood.”
The emergence of the high-end auto corridor is part of a larger commercial boom on Danbury’s west side that includes the redevelopment of the 1.2 million-square-foot Summit office complex on Reserve Road.
[email protected] 203-731-3342